Industry 4.0: The Inevitable Revolution

Essentially, the transition to the 4th Industrial Revolution involves the adoption of a new digital business model. From a strategic perspective, the implementation of the changes to this new model must guarantee the vertical internal integration of the production processes, as well as the external horizontal integration in the value chain, always focusing relentlessly on the customer. As a consequence of this integration, the desire of the client must materialize, in real time, in the production line, through the individual customization of the product, or service, to be offered.

The process of transformation is a worldwide movement that arises from the active positioning of the new consumer, also known as prosumer. In other words, it is the one that has sometimes become a producer of the transformation of capitalism by the almost zero marginal cost economy and the adoption of new disruptive technologies, which generate a leap in efficiency and economic integration.

Everything indicates that, soon, we will see the transformation of how we energize the economic activity, with the expansion of the use of decentralized renewable energy sources, and the transformation of the way we move economic activity with the adoption of electric and driverless vehicles. Today, the companies that are looking to succeed in this new economic scenario join this journey both as providers of solutions for the transformation of their customers as the protagonists of the internal transformation itself.

The 4th Industrial Revolution will be so strong that it will even question the reason of companies exist. All segments will be directly impacted. It’s just a matter of when this will happen. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to work on the construction of their strategy by the perspective of reinventing their processes to obtain efficiency and flexibility with the new technologies, at a time when the product / service is practically co-creased by the experience that the user must experience. As it happens with all transformation, the success will only be achieved with people being the epicenter of change. It is essential to prepare the teams well, identify what is best in them, develop new skills, encourage the change of mindset, so that they become protagonists of the digital age.

The revolution is inevitable and predicts the increasing integration between different areas of knowledge to change dramatically – for the better – people’s lives and the daily life of corporations.

(*) Augusto Moura is CEO of IHM Engenharia, company of the group Stefanini, fifth company more internationalized, according to Ranking of Fundação Dom Cabral 2017.